Civitas Poll: McCrory Lead Widens Over Perdue if Election for Governor Were Held Today

Raleigh, N.C. – Although the next election is not until 2012, Republican Pat McCrory leads Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue by 15 percent, according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.

According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 51 percent of voters said they would vote for McCrory if the election for Governor were held today. Thirty-six percent said they would vote for Perdue, and 12 percent said they are undecided.

This is a 6 percent increase in McCrory’s lead from a June 2010 Civitas poll when he led Perdue by a 46 percent-37 percent margin.

“Support for Perdue is low as voters see job creation and economic recovery remaining flat,” said Civitas Institute Francis De Luca. “Despite press releases heralding new jobs and incentive giveaways, voters are not seeing improvement in the employment picture.”

“Perdue has an uphill climb in light of the recent midterm elections, bleak jobs picture and the challenging state budget situation,” added De Luca. “In the next few months, the public will see whether she works with the new Republican leadership to balance the budget and improve the employment picture. If successful, that may prove critical to her reelection plans.”

In addition, 60 percent of voters said they think Perdue does not have a clear plan for creating jobs, while 25 percent said she does. Fifteen percent of voters said they do not know.

Full text of question:
“And although the next election isn’t until 2012… if the election for Governor were being held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were Pat McCrory, Republican and Bev Perdue, Democrat? And would you definitely vote for (choice) or just probably for (choice)?”

This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted December 15-16, 2010 by Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Virginia. This survey has a margin of error of +4.0% in 95 out of 100 cases. To ensure a representative sample, interviews were conducted proportional to voter registration figures for each county in the state based on the most recent figures compiled by the State Board of Elections.
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